FOOD STIMULI AND GENDER

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Possible explanations for these controversial findings might be a difference in the samples,
in terms of age, level of education, or culture. The sample in this study consisted only of
students and university staff and is not a direct reflection of the general population. Another
possible explanation is that visual attention could be affected by hormonal or emotional
changes such as women’s luteal phase. Women have reported an association between
cravings for specific foods and premenstrual syndrome (Weingarten & Elston, 1990).
Though the subject of this study was not food cravings, hormonal changes in women should
not be disregarded as a possible influence.
For the low-calorie stimuli divided by ready and not ready to eat, women exhibited
a higher mean value for all ET variables except VC. Gender difference was significant only
in the ready-to-eat group, suggesting that the level of processing of foods has an influence
on visual perception. Level of processing has not been taken into account in previous studies
in which, for example, a whole pineapple or a raw whole head of broccoli was compared to
high-calorie foods like potato chips or a piece of cake (Blechert et al., 2016; Meule et al.,
2013). Both of the studies mentioned produced results in favor of high-calorie stimuli, but
level of processing could have had an unwanted influence. Meule (2013) acknowledges that
level of processing should be taken into account in future studies. According to the results
of the current, level of processing is an important variable to consider in order to avoid bias
when comparing low- and high-calorie stimuli.
It is assumed that the motivational factors that could be responsible for gender
differences in eating behavior are weight control and health beliefs (Wardle et al., 2004;
Westenhoefer, 2005). Women are usually more concerned about their physical appearance
and more displeased with their body shape and weight (Neumark-Sztainer, Shenvood,